Ischemia
by Parabola Beam
Summary: — n, pathology: an inadequate supply of blood to an organ or part, as from an obstructed blood flow. Cinder/Ruby, breathplay. [Extended, rating changed to reflect this.]
1. Chapter 1

_"Visiting from Haven, actually."_

Ruby had liked her voice.

It was quiet and smooth, and something about it seemed familiar somehow.

She'd felt comfortable.

...

"...Ruby, was it?" She paused in a way that felt meaningful somehow and then smiled slowly, honey-sweet. "That's a pretty name. Very pretty."

Ruby opened her mouth, but couldn't choose any one of the many things she wanted to say.

She wanted to ask if she really thought so.

She wanted to ask her what her name was, anyway, because she hadn't caught it?

She wanted to tell her her name was pretty too, no matter what it turned out to be.

She wanted to ask if she needed help walking back to her own dorm.

Ruby would've asked, would've felt a little bit extra grown-up for doing so, but a palm cupping her cheek made everything she'd been thinking about melt into a nondescript puddle of letters and the outlines of sounds. Her mouth hung partway open like a fish as the other hand joined the first, thumbs rolling over the curves of her cheeks slowly, once, twice, three times-

"U-Um!" Ruby squeaked, but was only met with a sultry chuckle.

"My, what plump cheeks you have-" She smiled in a way that somehow maybe didn't look as kind as before as she pressed and pinched at them a little harder, tugging them from side to side. She angled her head slightly to arrest Ruby's wandering eyes with her own, her voice coming in lower, huskier, "-all the better for a little squeeze, right?" Before Ruby could answer, she pinched harder and tugged her head into nodding a few times.

"_Good_ girl."

In a second, she was pressed back against the wall of the hallway outside her dorm, and everything was-friction and sliding, sensations that were impossible to describe as anything but heaven and hell rolled into one.

Their bodies were touching, and she was sweating.

"You're running a fever, Ruby." She assessed, matter-of-factly, running a hand over her forehead as the other slid to the base of her neck, fingers fanning around her throat.

But to Ruby it felt more like her skin was just getting hot where she happened to be touching.

"Breathe. Breathe in for me." Ruby hesitated, but she did not. "_Now_."

Ruby sucked in a frightened breath, only to have it cut short with _pressure_-she couldn't do anything, she already felt light-headed-

She tried to move, do something, anything, but the hand at her throat was tightening slowly, inexorably, and her cheeks flushed with heat as the hand on her forehead slid down over her eyes, covering them.

The hand slid off her throat, dragged off onto her chest over her heart, and Ruby gasped raggedly before the sound was cut short again, by lips over lips, hot and slow and dangerous-

"Your heart's beating fast-" Her whisper was like silk falling to a plush, velvet floor, her lips never all the way leaving Ruby's, and steady fingers began flicking the buttons of her uniform open, one by one. "-Poor thing-" Even without being able to see it, Ruby could all but hear the cruel smile that accompanied her next words.

"-did that get you _hot_?"

"Ruby! You out there?"

She was dropped, abandoned, instantly, and she was gone, saved by her sister's voice.

She didn't know it hadn't been the first time.


	2. Chapter 2

Ruby couldn't keep away from her.

Even when they were apart, the memories were scalding and intense, and she was so plagued by them that people were starting to notice.

Especially Weiss.

"Snap out of it, Ruby! I want to know what's going on with you." She'd pulled her aside into the back section of the library to speak privately, unaware how much more difficult it made it for Ruby to focus. "I can deal with Blake being all moody and quiet on me, but _not_ you."

_"Take this off."_

"W-Weiss, I'm fine!"

_"Hands on the wall."_

"What do you take me for?! I've known you long enough to know that this isn't normal." Her voice softened a little, and Ruby could see the hurt in her eyes. "You're… my first friend. Did you know that?" Her hands came to rest on Ruby's shoulders, comforting and firm. "I… want to take care of you."

_"I'll take care of everything."_

"…Ruby?"

_-a hand at her throat, tight, pulling her head back to suffocate her moans with a long, wet kiss. The other hand vanishing beneath her skirt, fingers probing deep, and she herself leaning into her touch like a moth to flame-_

"Ruby, you're _shaking_-"

"I-I'm alright! I'm fine, I just haven't-been sleeping well lately-"

It wasn't entirely a lie.

Weiss' expression clouded over, and Ruby could tell she wasn't buying it. In fact, the more Ruby looked at her, the more she got the feeling that she might know more than she hoped-

"It's that woman, isn't it."

Even her mention was enough to feel choked all over again.

"Is she bullying you?" Weiss was raising her voice. Ruby shook her head. "I've seen her looking at you, I don't like how she takes you aside to do whatever she does, I don't like how you go with her, I don't like _her_-" Weiss' voice was brimming with frustration and her words were strangled.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Ruby blurted evasively, "It-It's not-"

"Then what is it?!" Weiss shook her shoulders and the collar of Ruby's blouse loosened, exposing plum-purple blemishes along her neck and collarbone. Weiss stopped, and Ruby knew that even though she'd tried to cover them back up, she'd seen.

"-What are those-?" She reached out but Ruby stopped her wrist, urging her to not.

"_Don't_-" She begged, "-_please_-"

Weiss looked like she'd been stricken. Horror dawned on her expression and-

"-Ruby, what… is she _doing_ to you-?"

-and somehow, Ruby felt relief.

Weiss knew what was happening. She wasn't alone anymore.

All the guilt of lying to her partner caught up to her and it hurt and she couldn't forgive herself-

It would've been so much easier if she hadn't enjoyed it so much, and even now, mentally admitting that she had was frustrating, humiliating-

"-I'm sorry-" Ruby croaked, "-I couldn't-_couldn't stop her _it's all my-all my-"

Weiss hugged her fiercely and fearlessly, nuzzling her hair, rubbing her back-it reminded Ruby of-Yang, how she gave the kind of hugs that made her feel like whatever had happened, she could just start over, that things would be okay-

"Ruby, it's not. It's not your fault. We'll talk to Yang, and Blake first. We'll help you. We'll protect you-" Weiss squeezed her close and Ruby returned the gesture, "-and things will be alright somehow, I _promise_ you-"

How long had it been since she'd embraced any of her team mates?

It felt good. It felt really, really good.


End file.
